Razorbacks Showing Signs Silverfield's Message Taking Hold, Aggies Will Challenge It

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — After what was Arkansas' most complete defensive performance of the season, perhaps the Razorbacks are turning the page at just the right time as SEC play continues.

The Razorbacks will be traveling to College Station on Saturday to take on a struggling Texas A&M team that has lost two straight games quite decisively to Kentucky and LSU.

Prior to Arkansas' 34-6 victory over Tulsa, the Razorbacks have struggled with turnovers, penalties and had some overall effort concerns, especially after a loss at Utah although that's mostly been put to rest.

For a program that's struggled to maintain a semblance of consistency under previous regimes, the stench of losing appeared to be strong in Salt Lake City. The first time something went wrong, the energy on the sideline was zapped away quickly and the game began to unravel at an accelerated pace.

Ryan Silverfield knew he had a challenge on his hands and that was to demand his team take ownership in the program and believe in the "ALL IN" vision he brought over from Memphis. The first step was to make sure all 22 on the field, 11 on each side were all on the same page.

"I mean, we took a step forward. Of course, you got to keep climbing," Arkansas defensive back Joker Johnson said after the victory over Tulsa. "You've got to keep having 11 guys at a time doing their job, pretty much. Like, tonight we communicated a lot better tonight.

"We had a lot of guys playing fast, green, doing their job, just being in the right spot at the right time, just believing in Coach Roberts and just playing whatever he calls and just executing. It was pretty good."

Staying Focused

Silverfield continuously preaches that the little things matter in terms of winning football. That's the first L of "ALL IN," and a critical one.

Outside of one defensive penalty for excessive celebration from hybrid defensive lineman Steven Soles, Arkansas played a clean brand of football that's reminiscent of Silverfield's time at Memphis. They also executed at a high rate without starting linebacker Bradley Shaw and other key contributors.

Arkansas Razorbacks cornerback Joker Johnson reacts after making a tackle against the Georgia Bulldogs. | Nilsen Roman, Hogs on SI Images

The Razorbacks played assignment driven football, recording two tackles for loss, two sacks, and two forced fumbles against Tulsa. That alone should help the defense play with confidence which should lead to more improvement over the final two-thirds of the schedule.

"We kept harping on the little things, like everything matters," Johnson said. "How you do anything, how you do everything. We just keep enforcing the little things, the details, the discipline overall in the program. We can't let nothing slip up and I think we're getting better and better at the little things."

What Johnson said ought to sound familiar to fans, as it should because that's exactly the message Silverfield preached the moment he took the job. That's the concrete foundation settling and his players are responding to that.

For a team that's lost countless games by one possession, it took stripping the program to the studs to rid itself of the losing mentality dating back a few years.

"Being disciplined, communicating, clean up trash behind each other," Johnson continued. "Like, just every little thing matters, and I think we’re kind of putting it together now. Like we can't take nothing for granted. Every little thing matters, and they've been preaching it, and I think people are starting to buy into it."

There's certainly no substitute when it comes to player buy-in.

Arkansas saw that firsthand at Utah, and witnessed it again with Georgia in town eight days ago.

If the Razorbacks are going to complete the 180 then it has to be done with guys who bring a winning mindset. Whether that's Johnson's championship mentality from his days at Tulane or even Ben Bogle, who was an All-American at Southern Illinois.

Those are just two of the guys who understand exactly what it takes to win at the highest level and that can bleed over into the mindset of guys who have been around the program for a while.

Arkansas linebacker Ben Bogle before a first half snap against Tulsa. | Nilsen Roman, Hogs On SI Images

"I completely agree with Joker. It's all about the little things, you know," Bogle added. "Our motto is 1-0 daily, and just taking it one day at a time, getting better every day. "That's kind of our mentality, and especially for the leaders to step up, especially when guys start to get down after those tough losses, you’ve got to pick them back up, got to keep going. Tonight, we did a good job turning the page."

Johnson and Bogle aren't alone in this. Several other Arkansas teammates have come from programs with winning culture like Shelton Lewis (Clemson), Chris Marshall (Boise State), and Hunter Osborne (Virginia).

The Razorbacks may not have the most talented roster, and probably are the least expensive, but that doesn't mean they can't pull off an upset any given Saturday.

"I think we need a win bad every week," Bogle said. I think every Saturday, we need that win bad, and that's our mentality. It's not a— for A&M, no, we need a win bad against A&M too, and so that's kind of our mentality."

If doing the little things against Tulsa is considered progress, then doing them on the road in one of the more feared atmospheres in the SEC is how Arkansas starts changing its losing reputation for good.

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